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Gold Run Continues

Despite hitting a speed bump in the final month of 2012, gold continued its incredible run of 12 consecutive yearly gains. That was its best streak since 1920.

Gold benefited from an extension of multi-billion dollar monetary stimulus by the Federal Reserve Bank. In December, the Fed extended its plan to buy $45 billion in U.S. Treasury securities along with $40 billion per month in mortgage backed securities to keep interest rates in check.

Investors from John Paulson to George Soros increased their exposure to gold via gold-backed ETPs too. The SPDR Gold Shares (GLD), with $71 billion in assets, is the world’s largest gold bullion ETP.

Despite gold’s impressive run, many analysts still think there’s more upside. A Bloomberg survey of 49 traders in mid-December revealed expectations of gold to reach $2,000 in 2013.